Evaluation of Nurses' Knowledge and Practice in Measuring and Controlling Endotracheal Cuff Pressure and Tracheostomy of Patients Admitted to Intensive Care Units

The nurse's knowledge and skills in caring for endotracheal tube cuff pressure can lead to complications in the patient. However, few studies are available in this area. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the knowledge and practice of nurses on how to measure and control cuff pressure of patients admitted to intensive care units.

This descriptive study was performed on 151 qualified nurses working in ICU wards of Shiraz teaching hospitals in 2017. Data collection was performed using a researcher-made checklist.

21.5% of the nurses knew the normal tracheal cuff pressure and tracheostomy range. Regarding the different ways of measuring cuff pressure, 5.3% referred to the minimum leakage method, 86.7% to the manual method, 74.7% to the manometer, and no reference was made to the obstruction method. 60.7% used the manual method to measure cuff pressure, and only 39.3% used a manometer. 3.3% did not know the time interval of cuff pressure measurement. 40% in each shift, and 56.7% stated every 24 hours as the appropriate time to control it.

The results of the present study showed that the performance of nurses concerning the ways of measuring cuff pressure is appropriate. However, the nurses' knowledge in this study is limited about the normal range of endotracheal tube cuff pressure and the complications caused by the abnormal low cuff range.